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D.C. For Art Lovers

Gallery of Art, Museum of the American Indian, the Phillips Collection, and more.

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Rating: 5 out of 5 by EveryTrail members

Difficulty: Easy

Length: 3.2 miles

Duration: Half day

Overview :
Visiting Washington, D.C., can feel like the school trip from hell: No matter who you are, no matter what you're interested in, you're... more » stuck with the same obligatory sights. We say, table that notion!

The city is more varied than guidebooks let on, and a whole lot more fun—especially if, like most residents, you have a clear-cut agenda. Travel + Leisure has taken the liberty of dividing families into four special interest groups—political animals, diplomats and spies, history geeks, and artists and aesthetes—and mapped out lots of activities for each. You can even eat and sleep staying true to character. So skip the forced march, the civics-teacher gulag. Take your cue from your family's temperament, then take on the town—your way.

Art lovers background check:
You are: More interested in the pursuit of beauty than in the pursuit of power. Prouder of the kids’ graffiti than of their report cards. Planning to get "The Da Vinci Code"—because you think it's an art book.

Fortunately, the federal government's Hoover-like ability to vacuum up treasures has turned D.C. into an art mecca.

This tour references the Travel + Leisure article titled "How to Do D.C.," by David Plotz. less «

Tips:
The 19 museums in the Smithsonian system and the National Zoo offer free admission.

Points of Interest

The National Museum of the American Indian, the Mall's newest landmark, could do a better job teaching Native American history and culture, but it does have beautiful craftwork, such as beaded Lakota buckskin dresses and Cherokee wasp-nest masks. Plus, the museum's Mitsitam Native Foods Café is the standout cafeteria on the Mall. Buffalo... More burgers, anyone?
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Fourth St. and Independence Ave. SW
202-633-1000
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Free Admission
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Hours: 10am-5:30pm daily, closed Dec. 25Less

Just down the hill from the Capitol--but a galaxy away--is the National Gallery of Art. The I.M. Pei-designed East Building, its pink marble bringing a rosy glow to the otherwise alabaster Mall, houses a modern art collection with Calder sculptures that will thrill your kids (look for a fish fashioned out of wire, perched on tiny hands). The... More enormous West Building has the only Da Vinci in America, as well as Vermeers, Monets and Van Goghs. Grab lunch in the gallery's sculpture garden--there's a café serving tasty salmon (pizza, too)--and then find the optical-illusion Roy Lichtenstein house. You're a stone's throw from the Mall's 1947 carousel; go for a whirl before forging on.
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Constitution Ave. NW, between Third and Seventh Sts.
202-737-4215
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Free Admission
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Hours
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Sunday 11am-6pmLess

The Penn Quarter is a former no-man's-land that's now ground zero for the gallery scene, concentrated on Seventh Street. The neighborhood also encompasses Chinatown, the place to eat bohemian-style. Chinatown Express has a free sidewalk show: You can watch chefs in the window stretching and cutting soup noodles, then go in and slurp.
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746... More Sixth St. NW
202-638-0425
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Cost
Lunch or dinner for four $30
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Hours: 10am-11pmLess

Adults have to pay to get into the Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle--it's not part of the free Smithsonian system--but it's worth it, and your teens will identify with all of those rebellious Impressionists.

This is the one stop on the tour that you may be too far to walk to. It's about a 10-minute drive from Chinatown Express or the National... More Gallery of Art, just past Dupont Circle.
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1600 21st St. NW
202-387-2151
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Admission
Adults $12
Kids 18 and younger Free
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Hours
Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Thursday 10am-8:30pm
Sunday 11am-6pmLess

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